The Founding of the Red Chamber

Tu Xiaosan's first battle after arriving in Huaiyang, although the Japanese bandits didn't gain any advantage, it can only be regarded as a small victory.Although the imperial court gave great praises for many reasons, but Tu Xiaosan's current thoughts are not at all focused on military merits. He immediately asked Governor Zheng to pay for the supply of ordnance. , "In the near future, there must be a second war. Please the court immediately supply weapons and weapons to prepare for the war."

Governor Zheng knew the importance of doing things, so he immediately applied to the court for military supplies.

However, the battle was so quick that Governor Zheng's book hadn't even arrived in the capital, and the second battle began with great vigor and vigor.

Fortunately, Tu Xiaosan is not unprepared.

However, Rao Yitu Xiaosan's combat power still failed to stop the Japanese bandits on the coastal front.The fierceness of the Japanese bandit attack this time was far better than that of the Quanzhou city raid that year. Tu Xiaosan gathered a total of [-] soldiers and horses, but the Japanese bandits had more than [-].What's more, what made Tu Xiaosan even more furious, this Japanese bandit son of a bitch, why are you so familiar with the way you fight!Lin Jing climbed up the city wall and saw that something was wrong. Lin Jing discussed with Tu Xiaosan privately, "These Japanese bandits must have learned our military training methods."

Tu Xiaosan swears and curses, knowing that it must be a good thing done by the city.Tu Xiaosan shook the saber in his hand tightly, and said coldly, "Meet on a narrow road, the brave wins. It depends on who can save their lives." Anyway, fighting is all about playing with one's life, and the Japanese bandits are all sea thieves. Things.As for Tu Xiaosan's subordinates, they have experienced many battles in recent years.For half a month of fierce fighting, Tu Xiaosan was able to defend here, but Zhapu, which had just been recaptured, was captured by Japanese bandits. Fortunately, Zhapu was recaptured at the beginning, and there are not many people in the city except soldiers. To Songjiang.Tu Xiaosan didn't care about disposing of Shi Shilang who had lost his land, because the Japanese bandits who broke through Zhapu were like hungry wolves breaking through the sheepfold, and drove straight into Huaiyang.Tu Xiaosan wanted to mobilize his troops to rescue him, but was dragged down by the Japanese bandits in Songjiang, unable to move a single inch.

The Japanese bandits along the entire coast of Huaiyang were divided into two groups, one group fought with Tu Xiaosan in Songjiang, and the other group drove straight into the hinterland of Huaiyang and approached Suzhou City.This state city, known as the land of heaven, sent ten battle reports to Jinling City within three days, and the entire state city was in danger.

Governor Zheng wanted to send troops to rescue Suzhou, but Jinling's troops were really limited. Governor Zheng asked Governor Ji Xia, and Governor Xia said, "One is that the general of Jinling has not yet arrived, and the other is that most of Jinling's recruits have only been trained for three months. Three, if you try your best to send troops to rescue Suzhou at this time, once the Japanese bandits come to Jinling, how will you respond?"

Governor Zheng knew that what Governor Xia said was right, but just looking at Governor Zheng's official experience, he knew that although he was a politician, he really didn't have the hard heart of a seasoned politician.According to Xia Sanlang's meaning, the land of Huaiyang is no more important than Jinling.Suzhou also has the Suzhou generals, the same garrison of tens of thousands of troops, and some strong cities. Even if they cannot defeat the Japanese bandits, they can defend the city for three months without leaving the city.Of course, this is from Xia Sanlang's point of view, as for Suzhou's city and its generals, Xia Sanlang does not dare to say this to death.

However, Governor Zheng has been in the Imperial Academy and the Imperial College for many years. He has the strong kindness and softness of a literati, who cares about the country and the people. The lives of [-] people are our sins!"

Xia Sanlang is not hard-hearted, on the contrary, he was easy to walk in the army when he was young, and he knows the cruelty of war.Xia Sanlang sighed, "My lord, you are determined to rescue Suzhou today, so you don't know that it is not a plan of the Japanese to divert the tiger away from the mountain. Jinling has a shortage of troops. Once troops are dispatched, if the Japanese bandits approach Jinling City, how will we deal with it?"

Governor Zheng sighed, "Let's talk about Suzhou first. At worst, I will live and die with the people."

Xia Sanlang persuaded again and again, Governor Zheng is determined to save Suzhou, but he has no knowledge of military affairs, so he had to ask Xia Sanlang, "How to arrange the rescue of Suzhou?"

Xia Sanlang was furious, thinking that with such a birdman as his boss, he would really hurt a person to death.If he knew that Governor Zheng was such a person, he would never seek the position of governor of Huaiyang.Xia Sanlang looked at Governor Zheng's appearance of saving people like a fire, and thought that this person's kindness was not for himself.However, if you save hundreds of thousands of people in Suzhou, if you hurt the lives of hundreds of thousands of people in Jinling, let alone whether this action is right or wrong, then the people of Jinling are willing to suffer.Xia Sanlang asked directly, "My lord, are you willing to live and die with the people of Jinling, and the people of Jinling are willing to live and die with you? They would not have suffered such a catastrophe!"

The sharpness of Xia Sanlang's remark caused Governor Zheng's face to turn pale without any trace of blood when he asked the question.After a long time, Governor Zheng Fang said sadly, "I just want to be clear of my heart."

Xia Sanlang really has nothing to say, if you are just a literati, you can just ask for a clear heart.But politicians are different, and the officials in the frontier are even more different.The biggest difference between officials and literati is that officials know how to balance. Whether it is their own advantages or disadvantages or the interests of the people, what officials weigh must be the greatest benefit.Now Governor Zheng's sentence "I have no shame in my heart" failed to move Xia Sanlang half a point, Xia Sanlang only felt it was extremely ridiculous, Xia Sanlang said, "In this case, I will immediately lead the troops to help Suzhou. However, after the subordinates leave, who will lead them?" Bing, do you have an idea?"

Governor Zheng said, "I still need Saburo to give me an idea." Governor Zheng and Xia Shangshu are still close friends in the capital.

Xia Sanlang said, "If there is someone in the army who can be entrusted to take charge of the overall situation, the lower officials don't have to personally lead troops to help Suzhou. Listen to me, my lord, and put Jinling's military affairs in charge of Miss Mu. If there is a war, the whole city will stick to it. Junlue must listen to Miss Mu's orders!"

"But Ms. Mu is just a woman." Governor Zheng hesitated, but Xia Sanlang said in a deep voice, "In Jinling City, even the lower officials have less experience with Japanese bandits than Miss Mu. Although she is a woman, she is It has been battle-tested! But there are wars, and the hundreds of thousands of people and thousands of soldiers in the city must rely on her if they want to survive. If it is someone else, Jinling City will definitely not be able to defend it!"

Governor Zheng is particularly decisive when it is critical, although sometimes these decisions are very crooked and sticky.Fortunately, Governor Zheng is very convinced of Governor Xia, but he knows how to transfer Tu Xiaosan to Huaiyang, so it can be seen that he is not without vision.It's just that things often make people speechless. Governor Zheng nodded, "I will remember what Sanlang said."

Xia Sanlang ordered troops immediately, ordered the logistics to prepare food, grass and weapons, and left the city in the afternoon to help Suzhou.

Once Xia Sanlang left, Governor Zheng was very willing to listen to Xia Sanlang's recommendation and asked Murong to take charge of Jinling's military affairs.Mu Rong didn't refute it, but the military officer below refused to accept it. Murong said coldly, "I don't care if you are convinced or not, what I need you to do is to obey my orders. If you are dissatisfied, you will write a letter after the war to call it a grievance." Let it go. However, I have been entrusted by the governor, if anyone refuses to obey the military order, he will be punished according to the military regulations."

Mu Rong has been with his apprentice Lin Jing for these years, and has been trained in battles, so he is quite dignified.Furthermore, she just ordered the soldiers to continue training and strengthen the city defense, other things were the same as when Xia Sanlang was there.And with the support of Governor Zheng, even if there is dissatisfaction in the army, it is just a few sour words in private!

Xia Sanlang led the reinforcements, but experienced a small battle outside Suzhou City.

The Japanese bandits had a strong intention to stop them at first, and both sides suffered a lot of losses. However, when Xia Sanlang attacked again, the Japanese bandits gave way to the Suzhou soldiers within a mile and a distance, and Xia Sanlang was able to enter the city smoothly.

When General Suzhou saw Xia Sanlang bringing people over, he was so excited that he almost burst into tears, and he didn't let go of Xia Sanlang's hand.Xia Sanlang inspected the city defense together with Suzhou prefect and general, and felt that the situation in Suzhou was good, Xia Sanlang frowned, "How to send those urgent reports is worrying.

General Suzhou sighed, "It's not that the lower officials made a big fuss, my lord, please follow the lower officials to have a look." General Suzhou invited Xia Sanlang to the armory.The general of Suzhou and the magistrate of Suzhou both showed embarrassment, and they said, "They are all incompetent officials, and their military equipment is loose on weekdays. Although the city walls are considered strong, there are very few usable swords, guns, swords and halberds here, and the soldiers are usually sparse. For training. It was General Lin who came here earlier, and the soldiers practiced more diligently. Now that the Japanese bandits are besieging the city, it doesn’t matter whether we live or die, but if the people in this city are harmed by the Japanese bandits. Governor, this is 10,000+ Life!" The two said, both crying.

Governor Xia sometimes felt that the imperial court was like a patient riddled with holes. If you healed one place, there would be problems there.So many things, it's just exhausting.Take the matter of the Suzhou Armory. If this matter is investigated, I don’t know how many people will lose their positions and lives, but right now, what they want is the lives of the people in the city!

Xia Sanlang wanted to leave some weapons for them, but he still wanted to go back to Jinling, but the general of Suzhou and the magistrate pleaded bitterly, begging Xia Sanlang to stay and help them defend the city, otherwise, if something bad happened to Suzhou city, he would The lives of the two are not important, what should the 10,000+ people in the city do!

Well, since Xia Sanlang came to Suzhou, these two have said this more than ten times.Xia Sanlang said in his heart, if you have made a little bit of progress in armaments on weekdays, you will never reach this level today.

Xia Sanlang only brought 3000 people here, he originally thought that he would save as soon as possible, but if it was difficult to save, Xia Sanlang did not have the temperament to be hanged by a rope.In the end, they did not expect that the pair of prefects and generals were actually brown sugar.Furthermore, there were more than three thousand Japanese bandits outside the city. Xia Sanlang couldn't bear to let Suzhou City, a city that had been prosperous for thousands of years, fall into the hands of Japanese bandits, so he agreed to stay and help defend the city.

But gradually, Xia Sanlang realized that the situation was not very good.

Because, although these Japanese bandits look like they are attacking the city every day, of course, just like this, they can scare the brown candy duo of Suzhou General and Suzhou Prefect to death.Xia Sanlang is quite experienced in warfare, Xia Sanlang frowned, thinking, these Japanese bandits are not doing their best to attack the city, and they don't look like they want to take down Suzhou City if they want to die.Xia Sanlang immediately felt that it was not good, because if the Japanese bandits were just showing off, then they had only one purpose of besieging the city, that is, to besiege the city.To encircle but not attack, there must be a big move.

Xia Sanlang pondered in his heart, this Japanese bandit is either waiting for other Japanese bandits to come to support him, or he has bigger plans.

As for what the bigger plot is, Xia Sanlang felt chills in his heart, he couldn't bear to think about it.

It was right that Xia Sanlang did not go back to save Jinling City, because even if he turned around at this time, Xia Sanlang would not be able to return to Jinling City.The army of Japanese bandits besieged Su, and then surrounded Yangzhou city. The governor of the Ministry showed his kindness again, and sent a deputy general to rescue Yangzhou with 2000 soldiers. Then, the deputy general and 1000 troops were buried under the city of Yangzhou .Another Qianhu rescued Jiang Ning with [-] troops, but he failed to return.

The remaining Vice-General Fu and two or three thousands of households begged Governor Zheng not to divide the troops any more. Vice-General Fu even completely forgot how dissatisfied he was with Murong in commanding the army back then. Didn't your lord and the governor say that all the military affairs should be handed over to Lord Mu, and Lord Mu doesn't agree with sending troops to help, and your lord insists on going his own way, and now these brothers are all buried at the hands of the Japanese bandits, does your lord want us to die too?"

Governor Zheng's complexion was pale with gray, but in just one month, this feudal official had aged more than ten years.The prefect of Jinling said, "I know that the deputy general is anxious, but the Governor-General is also concerned about the country and the people."

Vice General Fu was about to say that there is no use in worrying about the country and the people, this birdman is going to worry us to death!Don't worry, I can live two more days!

At this time, Murong spoke, and his voice was calm and steady. Murong said in a deep voice, "I thought the Japanese bandits were coming too hard. If it was in Zhejiang and Fujian, the Japanese bandits would never dare to do it." This matter is different in Huaiyang. I have only seen the weakness of Huaiyang's troops in my life. The current situation is very clear. For example, Suzhou, Yangzhou, Jiangning and others, although their troops are weak, but the walls of the resorts are solid and the walls are closed. Wealthy, risk your life, at least two months. The Japanese bandits divide their troops to besiege the city, pretending to be an offensive. Because Huaiyang suffered a disastrous defeat earlier, the troops were weak. There are two of them. If you can attack the city, Huaiyang is rich and famous all over the world, at least you can make a fortune. But if you fail to attack the city, because of the cowardice of the local troops, you must ask for help. Asking for help is to divide Jinling's soldiers. Today, there are only guards in Jinling Five thousand. If I don’t expect it, the day when the Japanese army will besiege Jinling City will not be far away.”

As soon as Murong's words came out, everyone's faces changed drastically. Even if they were somewhat prepared, people like Governor Zheng were like being hit by a bolt from the blue.

At this time, the prefect of Jinling is stable. This prefect is surnamed Fan. Prefect Fan said, "At this time, I don't know if it will be too late or not." Knowing that his logic is wrong, Xie Zhifu said, "Why did the girl conclude that the Japanese bandits will join forces to encircle Jinling City? We have General Lin outside us, not to mention, regardless of Suzhou or Yangzhou, Jinling is never allowed to be prosperous because of its prosperity."

"First, if General Lin was able to return to aid Jinling, he would have returned to aid a long time ago. Although the coast is important, it is not as important as Jinling. It is the territory. If it is lost, it can be regained. There is no news from the general so far, so we know it is We were dragged back by the Japanese bandits. Moreover, Zhapu has been breached, so we know that the coastal war is fierce. Therefore, don’t expect the general. If the general can return to help, the Japanese bandits will not have the time to do this plan to divert the tiger away from the mountain. Second, no matter how prosperous Suzhou Yangzhou is, there is no governor or high-ranking officials in Suzhou Yangzhou, so the Japanese bandits will definitely choose Jinling City." Mu Rong's eyes were on the officials, and he spoke very clearly. Killing and looting, what they need this time is not only a military victory, but also a political victory.

This time, Prefect Pan's face completely froze into a look of fear, and after a long while, Prefect Fan said, "Young lady has to give us an idea."

Fu Fu's hands trembled, and he also said, "Everything the lord orders, the general will obey." Several generals also expressed their submission.

Murong was not moved at all by the words of the two, she looked at the ashen-faced Governor Zheng with a pair of calm eyes.Governor Zheng clenched his fists fiercely, but he seemed to have some appearance. Governor Zheng said sternly, "From today on, all military affairs in Jinling City will be under the command of Miss Mu. Even my own officer will listen to Miss Mu. As long as Jinling can be guarded City, girl, but if you have orders, you will follow them!"

Mu Rong nodded slightly, "If that's the case, I'll overstep."